Social media
Social media can be considered in at least two groups: Twitter and Facebook (Google+ and similar ones can also use the present suggestions). In general terms, the account user should ideally be respectful with audience, diplomatic and have excellent orthography and the use of the account should be regular. Promoting any public mensan activity -such as lectures or testing sessions- and solving general questions regarding the organization. Good Practices for Mensan Twitter PR accounts: Post from 2 to 10 tweets a day, this will help you be present but not abusive. Suggested topics for tweets and Retweets (RT): ▪ Phrases on intelligence, education, learning, giftedness ▪ News on intelligence, education, learning, giftedness ▪ SIGs activities (a glimpse on Mensa) ▪ Start a #hashtag topic when possible, for example #IntelligenceDay #MensaxxAG for other members to keep ideas floating around an event or idea. ▪ Anytime that a question of a follower requires specific information, include the link of your national chapter official info (it helps keeping answers brief, complete and helps your website's hit scores). ▪ If a follower includes you on news related to the previous topics you may RT and thank him/her. What to avoid ▪ Phrases, news or notes that carry a political, religious or ideological posture. UNLESS you think you can handle it in a neutral manner -making it clear it is NOT a Mensa posture- and asking for people to comment on it. It could help start threats, but it must be used carefully. ▪ Do not ever insult followers. ▪ If you are not sure what to respond to a question/follower or to post or not to post something, ask for advice for your PR officer or your National Committee. Other tips ▪ In general terms, a neutral attitude should be mantained. Some people get in contact with Mensa in an aggressive manner or trying to "prove they're smarter". Never fall in for that. If you make a mistake while writting or you feel you're getting into dangerous zone you may even reply back humourosly "we're gifted, not perfect ;-)". ▪ If someone asks regarding the good or bad theories behind intelligence, reply back with available data and links. Ask for your chapter to define a posture and selected references for this. ▪ Always reply in a kind manner. ▪ If there is Trending topic (#hashtag) on the air that you can use, go ahead. ▪ Follow-back all followers. People appreciate to be recognized and replied. ▪ Check your information sources and always use trust worthy links. ▪ You may use emoticons. A happy face when posting something that could offend someone sensitive helps keeping the tone down, a sad face may help if you recieve an issue-post from a nonmember may ("I still don't have my test results", kind of thing...) ▪ You may greet people "enjoy this sunny friday!" ▪ It is a good idea to have a list of generic tweets at hand no general Mensa information in case you run out of ideas one day. For example: "As an international service, #SIGHT allows members to enjoy the company and hospitality of Mensans from around this country and more than 40 other countries." Suggested tracking tools TweetStats Is a statistical tool that allows you to see our tweets activity through time. It includes the usernames of those who interact the most with us. (Although now it seems to take forever to create your analysis) Xefer helps you to know the best timming for our tweet posting. Twitalyzer was a great free tool, but now you do have to pay for the service. Twitonomy is also good and still free. Good Practices for Mensan Facebook PR pages ▪ Facebook allows to create "pages" which allow more freedom for administrators to post on behalf of an organizatino and also includes generic stats. It also includes the possibility to promote your page and create ads in case your national chapter decides to invest on that area. ▪ Be mindful that a regular post a day is necessary for those who "like" the page to remember you are there. If you post too often people may feel overwhelmed, specially if the content of your posting seems to egocentric and not too interesting. ▪ Include basic information at the "about" section of the page and the link to the official website. What is Mensa? What are its objectives? Mensa has no political, religious, etc point of view... Suggested topics to post ▪ Notes and news on inteligence, education, giftedness and related joke images. Be mindful if you post graphical content to also write the message within, people with lack of vision who use special equipment for websites won't get any information from just an image, but they will be able to "read" your writting. ▪ Keep in mind that an image will make your posting more vissible to your audience. Either if it is on posting news or a mensan activity note. ▪ On images, be mindful of copyright. Publish images that you own or with CC license, properly linked. What to avoid ▪ Phrases, news or notes that carry a political, religious or ideological posture. ▪ Do not ever insult followers. ▪ If you are not sure what to respond to a question/follower or to post or not to post something, ask for advice for your PR officer or your National Committee. Other tips ▪ Keep an eye for private messages and posts you may receive. Do not leave that unattended for long periods of time. ▪ Check your information sources and always use trust worthy links. ▪ Try to change periodically the cover picture. If possible, get one from a mensan event -ask members for permission to show their image publicly-. ▪ Share other mensan facebook pages images. ▪ Your audience may appreciate riddles. From time to time include links - info from your national chapter official website.